Tractive sales soar

Tractive Power Holdings had an excellent year with sales of parts and service being the driving force. The company, which was previously part of Astra Holdings saw its turnover increase four-fold from $1.7 billion to $7.2 billion.

The company says Puzey and Payne contributed 44 percent of the turnover, followed by Barzem with 43 percent and Farmec with 11 percent.

Its profit was boosted by a strong performance in the second half. It made a profit after tax of $642 million in the second half bringing the profit for the year to $972 million.

It had, however, to pay $198.1 to minority shareholders resulting in net profit dropping to $773.8 million, up from $183.1 million last year.

The company says a provision for doubtful debts of $432 million made in the first half had been reduced to $200 million.

It increased its net borrowings by $296 million just to utilise low cost funds and significantly reduce foreign creditors.

It says its performance in the coming year is largely dependent on the availability of foreign currency. Ever increasing inflation could also impact negatively on demand for its products.

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